The Ugly Truth Behind Owning An Orange County Choppers Outrageous Motorcycle Builds
Shows like American Chopper on the Discovery Channel capitalized on the chopper craze of the ‘90s and early 2000s. Orange County Choppers and the Teutuls became household names for their chopper builds and explosive on-screen drama. Of all the styles of motorcycles that have come and gone into popularity, the chopper may have been the least practical. Sure, stretched out front forks, and raked back handlebars might have been the coolest thing since neon underglow, but they’re not the most comfortable to spend long hours in the saddle with.
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Admittedly, Orange County Choppers builds were unique, theme-built custom choppers around Harley-Davidson motors, which really captured the imagination of gear heads of the time. They weren’t cheap either, with OCC custom-builds valued at well over the $100,000 mark. But as YouTuber Bikes and Beards recently found out when he bought a 17-year-old OCC chopper for a fraction of the cost, the bikes are nowhere near the kind of riding experience you’d expect for the money.
Related: Here’s What Paul Teutul Jr From American Choppers Is Up To Today
Orange County Chopper Bikes Can Really Cost Up To $100,000
Choppers weren’t affordable motorcycles in their prime, thanks to all the customization that went into one. But an OCC chopper build was usually on a different level in terms of value thanks to the hype the TV show brought them. Not to mention the top-shelf parts that went into an OCC build, from fully-built Harley-Davidson V-twin motors, or aftermarket crate motors, to custom gear cases, custom wheels, custom levers etc. The keyword usually being custom. With the specifications and geometry on each chopper being different, most parts had to be modified to fit. Or be created entirely from scratch.
Going by some reports, OCC builds cost anywhere between $50,000 to $100,000 when new. Some special theme builds for charity have been bought at auction for even more. As for buying an OCC chopper indirectly, or not from OCC themselves, it’s a whole different story.
As Sean Kerr, the founder of SRK Cycles and the Bikes and Beards YouTube channel, found out, buying an Orange Country Choppers custom isn’t easy. A wave of nostalgia led to Sean looking for an OCC build to buy himself. At the time of his purchase, only one Orange County Chopper was listed for sale for about $14,000. Sean made an offer for $8,000 and forgot about it eventually.
Weeks later the owner got back to him accepting the offer, and Sean was now the owner of an authentic Orange County Choppers build — all without even seeing the bike in person.
Related: This Is The Best Motorcycle From Orange County Choppers
OCC Builds Look Great Until You Look Closer
via YouTube/Bikes and Beards
While the particular chopper Sean purchased was an OCC special created for a fan giveaway, the value of the OCC chopper was pegged at around $80,000 when new. By any math, buying a vehicle for a tenth of its original value about two decades later is not smart. But given the rarity, specialness and expected workmanship of a world-famous OCC build and cost of choppers in general, it about adds up.
via YouTube/Bikes and Beards
That said, many people who have seen an Orange County Chopper build closeup in person don’t usually have great things to say about the workmanship. As the stories go, several of the welds on the custom motorcycles built by OCC were blotchy and sub-par. While we know that OCC did have master bike builders at the workshop, it appears some of the work may have been rushed to adhere to deadlines. Not to mention all the time that got lost in dealing with the fights between Paul Teuton Sr and Jr. Those rushed jobs show in the quality of work, even if the parts used were high-dollar custom parts.
Related: This Incredible Custom Harley-Davidson Breakout Is A 150-HP Monster Cruiser
Choppers Are Good For Long Rides, But Not When They’re Built By OCC
American chopper via Facebook
American Choppers, as a TV show, was definitely a case of right place-right time. Chopper motorcycles had gone from “outlaw” motorcycles to being largely accepted in niche pop culture thanks to the 1969 movie, Easy Rider. From then to the early 2000s, the chopper craze only grew, and mixing that with the rise of reality TV shows was a sure recipe for success.
Choppers were seen as the ultimate expression of freedom, given the spaced out riding position, with the rider’s arms and legs kicked out. Cruisers, the motorcycles on which choppers were usually based, get their name for the riding comfort out on the open road. But choppers, with their extreme geometry, compromised things a little bit. Sure, if you were riding a chopper cross-country Easy Rider-style, things weren’t half bad. As long as you could live with the small fuel tank size and need to stop for gas way more frequently. But for any sort of city riding, or riding in traffic, choppers were less than ideal.
via Mens health
As Sean points out, his chopper with a rigid rear is the worst motorcycle he’s ever ridden. The rigid rear means that the chopper doesn’t have rear suspension, instead relying on the rider’s spine to actually absorb bumps from the road directly. In addition, Sean’s old OCC custom has front brakes that are well past their prime and barely stop the bike. On the other hand, the rear brakes are trigger-happy, meaning a panic brake could lead to the rear tire locking up, leading to a crash. Even worse, his bike has metal spikes all over it in the name of edgy-styling, which means a crash could be especially painful. Additional issues include mirrors that vibrate too much while riding, a battery that’s always dead which points to faulty wiring,
Fortunately, Sean’s new-old OCC chopper was also slow. It turned out to be running a bone-stock Harley-Davidson Evolution V-twin engine, an engine first introduced in 1986 with only minor revisions through the years. When Sean strapped the chopper to a dyno, the bike only put out 62 horsepower and 73 lb-ft of torque. The team did the math and realized that the OCC custom basically would’ve cost well over a $1,000 for every single horsepower it put to the road!
Related: This Is The Origin Of Choppers And Bobbers In The States
Practicality Is The Reason We Don’t See Choppers Anymore
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Thankfully the chopper craze has been overtaken by a set of more practical bike styles the world over. People aren’t expressing their individuality or personality with 21-inch front wheels, and wide supercar-rivaling rear tires, and tons of chrome any longer. Instead, there’s everything from custom adventure bikes, and street naked bikes to bobbers and scramblers. Still, just for the nostalgic value at least, a chopper especially one built by Orange County Choppers, is priceless. At least, if you don’t particularly value comfort and usability.
Source: HotCars
